When we think and feel in the same ways for most of our lives and
memorize familiar states of being, our internal chemical state keeps
activating the same genes, meaning that we keep making the same proteins.
But the body cannot adapt to these repeated demands, and it begins to break
down. If we do that for 10 or 20 years, the genes begin to wear out, and
they start making “cheaper” proteins. What do I mean? Think about what
happens when we age. Our skin sags because its collagen and elastin come
to be made of cheaper proteins. What happens to our muscles? They
atrophy. Well, no surprise there—actin and myosin, too, are proteins.
Here’s an analogy. When a metal part for your car is manufactured, it is
produced in a die or a mold. Each time that mold or die is used, it is
subjected to certain forces, including heat and friction, which begin to wear
it down. As you might guess, car parts are built to very close tolerances
(referring to the permitted variation in a workpiece’s dimensions). Over
time, that die or mold wears to the point that it produces parts that won’t fit
properly to other parts. This is similar to what happens to the body. As a
result of stress or a habit of being repeatedly and consistently angry, fearful,
sad, and so on, the DNA that the peptides use to produce proteins will start
to malfunction.
What is the genetic impact if we stay in routine, familiar conditions—
creating the same emotional reactions by doing the same things, thinking
the same thoughts, seeing the same people, and memorizing our lives into a
predictable pattern? We are now headed for an undesirable genetic destiny;
we are locked into the same patterns as generations before us, which
confronted the same or similar situations. And if we are only reliving our
emotional memories of the past, then we are headed for a predictable end—
our bodies will begin to create the same genetic conditions that previous
generations faced.
Thus, the body will stay the same as long as we are feeling the same way,
day in and day out. And if science tells us that it is the environment that
signals the genes involved in evolution, what if our environment never
changes? What if we’ve memorized the same conditions in our outer world
and we’re living by the same thoughts, behaviors, and feelings? What if
everything in our lives stays the same?
stevenselfio
(Stevenselfio)
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